leadership and strategic management for tb control …apps.searo.who.int/pds_docs/b2367.pdf · ii...

Leadership andStrategic Managementfor TB Control Managers

SEA-TB-274Module No.3 of 8

Module 3 Leadership andLeadership Styles

Leadership and Strategic Management for TB Control Managersii

Acknowledgements

These training modules on leadership and strategic management for TB control were initially

prepared by the Indian Institute of Health Management Research (IIHMR), Jaipur, India with the

WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia. The modules were field-tested at training workshops

conducted at the IIHMR, Jaipur and the National Tuberculosis Institute, Bangalore.

WHO acknowledges the valuable technical inputs of the following individuals and institutions:

Vinod Arora, IIHMR, Jaipur, India; Christian Gunneberg, WHO country office, Nepal; S.D. Gupta,

IIHMR, Jaipur, India; Barun Kanjilal, IIHMR, Jaipur, India; Prahlad Kumar, National Tuberculosis

Institute, Bangalore, India; Franky Loprang, WHO country office, Indonesia; N. Mahadev, National

Tuberculosis Institute, Bangalore, India; Monique Munz, Training specialist, Copenhagen,

Denmark; Udai Pareek, Professor Emeritus, IIHMR, Jaipur, India; Tushar Kanti Ray, DANIDA,

India; Alka Aggarwal Singh, WHO country office, India; Preetish Vaidyanathan, National

Tuberculosis Institute, Bangalore, India: Uma Pocha, Communications specialist, Mumbai, India;

Saroj Jha, Health Promotion Expert, Mumbai, India; Karin Bergstrom, WHO/HQ and Nani Nair,

WHO/SEARO.

© World Health Organization 2008

All rights reserved.

This document is not a formal publication of the World Health Organization (WHO), and all

rights are reserved by the Organization. The document may, however, be freely reviewed,

abstracted, reproduced or translated, in part or in whole, but not for sale or for use in conjunction

with commercial purposes.

The views expressed in documents by named authors are solely the responsibility of those authors.

Module 3 – Leadership and Leadership Styles iii

Contents

1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1

2. Leadership ......................................................................................................................... 2

3. Leaders and managers ....................................................................................................... 4

4. Leadership styles .............................................................................................................. 13

5. Development level of teams ............................................................................................ 17

6. Matching leadership styles to the team’s development level ............................................. 21

7. Raise your team’s development level ............................................................................... 24

8. Enhance your leadership .................................................................................................. 25

9. Summary of important points .......................................................................................... 27

Module 3 – Leadership and Leadership Styles 1

Introduction

As a Tuberculosis (TB) Control programme manager, you are responsible for achieving the goals

of the TB Control programme. Your managerial responsibilities include planning, overseeing the

budget and ensuring that programme activities are organized and implemented smoothly on a

daily basis. In addition to managerial tasks, you are expected, as the head of the team, to ensure

that the team achieves its goals by providing a shared vision and direction, as well as sustaining

individual and group initiatives by bringing out the best in the team. These leadership skills are

essential for the successful implementation of the programme.

This module addresses various aspects of leadership and the characteristics of a good leader.

It helps you to determine the type of leader you are, and to identify ways to improve your own

effectiveness as a leader.

Learning objectives

After the completion of this module you should be able to:

1. Define the term leadership;

2. Differentiate between the functions of a leader and those of a manager;

3. Identify your leadership style, efficiency and flexibility;

4. Assess the development level of your team, and

5. Adapt the appropriate leadership style to different situations to be a more effectiveleader.

Summary of exercises

This module has six exercises.

Exercise 1: Individual written exercise followed by group discussion: Qualities of a successfulleader.

Exercise 2: Individual written exercise: The Leadership Profile Indicator (LPI).

Exercise 3: Individual written exercise: Identify your leadership style, effectiveness andflexibility.

Exercise 4: Individual written exercise followed by group discussion: Assess the developmentlevel of your team.

Exercise 5: Individual written exercise: Analyse areas you discount and neglect.

Exercise 6: Individual written exercise followed by group discussion: Enhance yourleadership effectiveness.

1

Leadership and Strategic Management for TB Control Managers2

Leadership

There are many definitions of leadership. However, one common theme that runs through each

of them is the ability to inspire confidence and support among the members of a group to achieve

the programme goals.

Leadership is a process or ability to influence the behaviour of others, to motivate and mobilize

others to work together and achieve a common goal. It is a way of focusing and motivating a

group of people to enable them to achieve their own aims and develop themselves. It also involves

being accountable and responsible for the group as a whole.

Leadership is a function comprising of three factors: the leader, the group and the situations

or conditions. Thus leadership is determined not only be the characteristics of the leader and the

team but also by the situations that prevail in the programme or organization. Thus the purpose

of leadership development at the TB control programme manager’s level is to develop skills to

motivate, and to get commitment, to support and guide the team members to achieve programme

goals.

2

Now do Exercise 1

When you have reached this point in the module, you are ready to do Exercise 1. Tell yourfacilitator when you have reached this point. While you are waiting, read the instructionsfor Exercise 1 beginning on the next page of this module.

STOP


Exercise 1

Individual written exercise followed by

group discussion: Qualities of a successful leader

The purpose of this exercise is to identify and discuss the qualities of a successful leader. There

will be a group discussion when all participants have finished the exercise.

1. Think about a person whom you consider to be a successful leader.

2. Write down why you consider that person a leader.

Let your facilitator know when you have finished this exercise.


Leaders and managers

3

Table 1: Leader and manager: roles/functions

Leader Manager

Visionary: focuses on the future and planslong term; asks “why”

Strategist: pathfinder; sees ways to achievegoals; provides direction

Policy-Maker

Campaigner: promoter; activist; publicrelations; identifies new resources

Team builder: empowers people; offerssupport; inspires trust

Change agent: seeks out emergingopportunities; is prepared for change

Do the Right Thing

Planner, organizer, coordinator: focuses onsystems and structures; deals with shortterm and day-to-day issues; asks “how”and “when”

Monitor: ensures that activities areimplemented to standards

Supervisor: directs; trains; solves problems

Efficient user of resources

Status-quoist (traditionalist); concernedwith stability, continuity

Do Things the Right way

Qualities of both a manager and a leader are necessary. While performing managerial or

administrative roles i.e. planning, organizing and controlling, managers are often called upon to

take up leadership roles that deal with the interpersonal aspects of a manager’s job, i.e. inspiration,

motivation and influence which may have a long-lasting impact on individuals and the group. A

It is important to understand the difference between management and leadership. While

management deals with the administrative aspects i.e. planning, organizing, monitoring, leadership

deals with the interpersonal aspects of a managers’ job i.e. inspiration, motivation and influence.

As a programme manager, you function both as a leader and a manager. The major

responsibilities of a manager is to operate and maintain the organization efficiently, ensuring that

it provides useful services to clients and the community. Managers tend to be problem-solvers,

seeking better ways to use their resources to get the job done. Effective managers bring order and

consistency to programmes. Leaders, on the other hand, are pathfinders; they branch out more

in their thinking. They are concerned with building the organization for the future, providing

direction, securing new resources, developing new capacities, preparing the organization to meet

challenges and take advantage of emerging opportunities, adapting to change and networking.


Now do Exercise 2


STOP

manager without leadership skills is an administrator, and a creative, far-sighted leader who is

unable to implement a vision (i.e. without managerial skills) will confuse and lose the team.

While there may be only one or two designated leaders in an organization, such as the

programme director or team leader, leadership qualities can be found in many others within the

team.


Exercise 2

Individual written exercise: The Leadership

Profile Indicator (LPI)

The purpose of this exercise is to help you to know more about your own leadership styles and

effectiveness as a leader. You will respond to 12 situations. There are no right or wrong answers.

You will learn more about yourself if you respond to each item as frankly as possible, in your

current managerial position.

This exercise makes use of a tool called the Leadership Profile Indicator (LPI) instrument.

The exercise is divided into four parts. This exercise will require you to:

Part 1: Respond to 12 situations;

Part 2: Score your responses;

Part 3: Identify your leadership styles, and

Part 4: Diagnose your leadership effectiveness and flexibility.

Parts 1 and 2 will be done in Exercise 2, and Part 3 and Part 4 in Exercise 3.

Exercise 2: Part 1 – Respond to 12 situations

• Read each of the statements given below on the following pages.

The purpose of this instrument is to find out how you deal with different organizational problems.

Twelve situations are given below. Each situation poses a problem.

(1) Read the situations carefully and then consider the four alternative courses of action

provided. Choose the course of action you would use if you were to face such a situation.

Circle only one choice for each situation; do not leave any situation unanswered.

(2) After making your responses to the 12 situations, please score the responses according

to the instructions given at the end of the exercise in the Score Sheet. The score you get

identifies your own leadership style, based on which you can develop ways to improve

your effectiveness as a leader.

Situation 1

You have recently joined as the district TB coordinator and have set up a team to accomplish a

new task assigned to your centre. In spite of enthusiasm and rapport among members, you find

that they lack the necessary planning and managerial competency. What action would you take?

(1) Plan the task in detail, and arrange training programmes for them in deficient areas.

(2) Encourage the team to find solutions to their problems.


(3) Plan the tasks, distribute assignments and supervise their work.

(4) Discuss with members, and help them to learn planning and monitoring competencies.

Situation 2

You are the district TB coordinator. An enthusiastic health educator willing to serve people is

posted in your centre. The other members of the centre welcome the health educator and provide

the needed support. The health educator is required to hold an Information, Education,

Communication (IEC) campaign. You would:

(1) Work out the details of the campaign, individual responsibilities, and monitoring

arrangements, hold a meeting of the staff, and share the plan with them, encouraging

them to make the campaign a success.

(2) Work out the details of the campaign, decide targets in detail, assign responsibilities to

each one according to their competencies, and supervise their work in the field every

day to make the campaign successful.

(3) Convey to the group the importance of the task, communicate to them their strengths

and your confidence in them and join them in working out the details of conducting

and monitoring the campaign.

(4) Communicate to the staff the requirements of the campaign, and let them work out the

details, including monitoring, and being available for any help required.

Situation 3

You are in charge of a TB clinic. The members working with you are a good team, are competent

and have enough experience. However, you find that the members need to be reminded frequently

to do their work. What action would you take?

(1) Define team members’ responsibilities and closely supervise their work

(2) Let the groups work out ways of improving performance.

(3) Work with the team to solve the problem.

(4) Supervise the team members more frequently and help them to overcome their

difficulties.

Situation 4

As district TB coordinator your targets have been increased by 25% this year. One of your health

centres has a team of committed and efficient workers, and last year it was rated the best out of

10 centres supervised by you. You have high expectations from this centre. What action would

you take?

(1) Revise the responsibilities of the members in the light of the new targets, and provide

them with support for their achievement.

(2) Participate in the group’s discussions to develop an action plan.

(3) Let the team develop a detailed plan, and provide them the needed support.


(4) Emphasize the importance of the new targets, and set targets for each member of the

team.

Situation 5

You have recently joined as the principal of a training institution. The staff of the institution are

efficient. However, they see training as a burden. There is no team spirit in the institute. You have

been asked to organize a series of five orientation programmes for community participation in

the next three months. What action would you take?

(1) Prepare the programmes and timetables and discuss with the group the facilities they

need to implement them.

(2) Plan details of the programmes, various person’s deadlines, and supervise the progress.

(3) Plan and work out details of implementation with the staff.

(4) Let the groups work out detailed plans and provide them the needed facilities.

Situation 6

As the head of the hospital, you have noticed that doctors and nurses in the OPD are neither

competent nor prompt. They lack enthusiasm to attend to patients. In an emergency situation,

the nurses do not provide timely help. Doctors refuse to operate in under-equipped operation

theatres. What action would you take?

(1) Share your concern with the staff, express the urgency of improving the situation and

your trust in the team, let them work out the detailed solutions. You may join them in

this exercise.

(2) Call a staff meeting, share your concern and ask staff to give suggestions. Based on the

suggestions, prepare details of responsibilities and supervision, and encourage them to

implement these.

(3) Call a meeting of the heads of departments and sections, and give them targets for

services, cleanliness etc. Arrange necessary training, and closely monitor (twice a week)

the situation.

(4) Suggest that heads of sections and departments deal with the situation and bring about

improvements.

Situation 7

You are a district TB coordinator. In one of your treatment centres, performance has been declining

rapidly for the last six months. The doctor is competent, but does not feel responsible for the

decline in performance. He/she feels that even though members of this particular centre know

their work, they seem to be unwilling to take responsibility and do not work as a team. What

action would you take?

(1) Discuss with the team and the doctor, the need to improve the situation, set targets and

remove any difficulties faced by them.

(2) Ask the doctor to let workers form teams of their choice and supervise them.


(3) Share your concerns with the doctor. Let the doctor and the team work out their own

solutions.

(4) Reorganize the team, set targets and responsibilities, and monitor the teams’ progress.

Situation 8

You as a provincial TB coordinator, held a programme review meeting of the staff of a District TB

Clinic. You found that the staff though working as a team, blamed their supervisors for their poor

performance. You also found the staff deficient in basic knowledge of TB control programmes.

What action would you take?

(1) Act quickly and firmly to correct them, define their roles, closely supervise, and arrange

crash training for them.

(2) Share your concern with the person in charge and the staff of the treatment centre, and

leave it to them to work out a plan for improvement.

(3) Share your concern with them and join them in deciding ways of improving the situation.

(4) Call the person in charge, and give him/her specific targets to achieve every week,

review the progress weekly, and arrange for the facilities and training needed by the

staff.

Situation 9

You have taken over as the administrator of a charitable hospital, which has been running well. In

order to provide uninterrupted and efficient services, the hospital staff had a rule under which 50

per cent staff could avail themselves of holidays for festivals. However, on your arrival, you come

to know of some dissatisfaction among the staff. What action would you take?

(1) Discuss the matter with the staff to find a solution.

(2) Investigate in detail, and prepare a plan with a definite course of action.

(3) Share this concern with staff and let them work out an action plan for improvement.

(4) Set up a committee to go into the details, ensure implementation of the findings, and

provide needed support.

Situation 10

You as a district TB coordinator find that staff of a health centre have agreed to achieve a certain

target. You are aware that individually each member has high motivation and is able to handle

this task. The first major camp is organized but very few patients turn up. Each staff member

blames the other for the poor turnout. What action would you take?

(1) Encourage the staff to plan the work with you and review the progress in their respective

teams.

(2) Define the task and make each member work on an assigned task.

(3) Let members of the health centre solve the problems.

(4) Make each of them feel important, and let them recognize each other’s strengths.


Situation 11

A three-member team of doctors was sent to control an epidemic in a village, . Though they were

not willing to join the effort, they had to accept the order. None of the doctors had an adequate

understanding of epidemiology, local geography or culture. There was no coordination or proper

planning among them. They could not contain the epidemic even after seven days. As the zonal

officer, the health director has asked you to supervise and control the problem. What action

would you take?

(1) Replace the non-performing member by a competent epidemiologist, work out detailed

targets, and encourage and support the team to do a good job.

(2) Share the concern with the team and leave it to them to improve the situation.

(3) Study the situation and available data, assign targets to each member, tell them in detail

how to go about the task, and monitor the progress daily, so as to re-plan if necessary.

(4) Add a person with adequate experience in epidemiology to the team, and encourage

the team members to plan, joining them from time to time.

Situation 12

You have been asked to be the course coordinator of a training programme in an institute. You

notice that necessary arrangements have not been made. The trainers are unenthusiastic, lack

training competence and are not functioning as a team. What action would you take?

(1) Work with the group to develop an action plan, encouraging the trainers to implement it.

(2) Streamline all arrangements as an emergency, assign various responsibilities and monitor

the work being done every day.

(3) Plan and implement the needed actions and coach the trainers to improve their training

competencies.

(4) Share your concern with the team and suggest that they could find the needed solution.

Exercise 2: Part II: Score your responses

The LPI Score Sheet on page 12 has four parts. Part 1 has your responses. The second and third

parts are used for scoring. The fourth part is for diagnosis. To score your responses, follow the

instructions below:

(1) Transfer the responses that you have chosen for each situation above to the Score Sheet

by encircling the letters of the answers for each situation in Part One of the Score Sheet.

(2) Now go to Part Two of the Score Sheet. Transfer the response to each situation (circled

letters in Part One of the Score Sheet) by circling the same letter in Part Two. For example,

if ‘B’ has been encircled for the first situation, circle ‘b’ in Part Two of the Score Sheet.

Complete this for all the twelve rows.

(3) Now go to Part Three of the Score Sheet. Encircle the same letter again in columns in

Part Three for each row. For example, if ‘B’ and “b” are encircled in the first row under

Part One and Part Two, encircle ‘b’ again.


(4) Now go to Part Four of the Score Sheet. Encircle the same letter again, wherever it

appears in Part Four for each row (even if it appears in combination with another letter).

If it does not appear in that row, skip that row.

(5) Now got back to Part Two of the Score Sheet. The four columns in Part Two of the Score

Sheet marked S1, S2, S3 and S4 respectively represent the leadership styles 1,2,3 and 4.

You will read more about this in the next chapter of this manual. Total the number of

letters encircled in each column. The total of each column will give the score on each

style. The sum of all these four columns will be 12.

(6) Now go again to Part Three of the Score Sheet. The four columns (1-4) in Part Three are

used to calculate the Leadership Effectiveness Score. Add the encircled items in each

column (total of the four sums will be 12). Multiply the total in column 1 by 3, the total

in column 2 by 2, the total in column 3 by 1 and the total in column in 4 by 0 and write

down the sums in the cells next to “Total after multiplication”. These values will range

from 0 to 36. Add these totals and multiply this total by 2.78. Now the value will range

from 0 to 100. Write down this value in the cell next to the second “Total after

multiplication”. This is the Index of Leadership Effectiveness. The higher this index, the

greater the effectiveness of your leadership.

(7) Now go again to Part Four on the Score Sheet. The six columns in Part Four will help

you diagnose or assess what you may discount or neglect in your team. Total the number

of letters encircled in each column. The total of each column will range from 0 to 6.



LPI Score sheet

(*)C is for CompetenceK is CommitmentT is for Team

No.

Part oneYour responses

to the 12situations

Part twoLeadership styles

Part threeLeadership

effectiveness

Part fourDiagnosis

You discount You neglect

1 2 3 4 S1 S2 S3 S4 1 2 3 4 C* K T C K T

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3

1 A B C D c a d b d a b c a c c b

2 A B C D b a c d d c a b abc a b b

3 A B C D a d c b c d b a a d a b

4 A B C D d a b c c b a d abd a d d

5 A B C D b a c d a c b d b d c d

6 A B C D c b a d c b a d abd d a d

7 A B C D d a b c a b c d d c b c

8 A B C D a d c b d a c b a b c c

9 A B C D b d a c c a d b abd b bd

10 A B C D b a d c d a c b a b b c

11 A B C D c a d b c a d b b b d abd

12 A B C D b c a d b c a d a d d acd

Total

Total aftermultiplication

Total aftermultiplication


Leadership styles

“Leadership style” is the style one uses as a leader to influence the behaviour of others. Earlier

studies on leadership in organizations have been done on how a leader gets results. Leadership

styles tend to vary considerably from situation to situation and it is not helpful to think of leadership

styles as an either/or option. While the behaviour of some leaders is characterized mainly as

directing their team activities in terms of task accomplishment (directive behaviour), other leaders

concentrate on providing socio-emotional support and on building personal relations with their

teams (supportive behaviour). In other situations, various combinations of directive and supportive

behaviour were evident. Effective leadership calls for a greater understanding of people and

situations, as well as the ability to use the appropriate leadership style in a given situation. These

patterns of behaviour can be plotted on two separate and distinct axes as shown in Table 2 below.

Directive behaviour: a leader engages in one-way communication; spells out the groups’

roles, and tells the group members what to do, where to do it, when to do it, how to do it

and then closely supervises the performance. Three words can be used to define directive

behaviour: ‘structures, controls and supervises’.

Supportive behaviour: a leader engages in two-way communication; listens, provides support

and encouragement, facilitates interaction, and involves the group in decision-making. Three

words can be used to describe supportive behaviour: ‘praises, listens and facilitates’.

The emphasis on these behaviours can be high or low. By placing these in a table we can

derive four leadership styles, as shown in Table 2. This model is known as the situational model

of leadership.

4

Table 2: The four basic leadership styles

Directive Behavior

High Supportive

Low Directive

Behaviour

S3

Low Supportive

Low Directive

Behaviour

S4

High Directive

High Supportive

Behaviour

S2

High Directive

Low Supportive

Behaviour

S1

(High)(Low)

(High)

SupportiveBehaviour

(Low)


The four quadrants of a situational model represent different leadership styles as follows:

High directive/low supportive leader behaviour (S1)

This is referred to as the directive style of leadership. The leader defines the roles of members

of a group and tells them what task to do and how, when, and where to do it. The leader

alone initiates problem- solving and decision-making. Solutions and decisions are announced;

communication is largely one-way, and the leader closely supervises implementation.

High directive/high supportive behaviour (S2)

This is referred to as the coaching style of leadership. The leader still provides a great deal

of direction and leads with his or her ideas, but the leader also attempts to hear the group’s

feelings about decisions as well as their ideas and suggestions. While two-way communication

and support are increased, control over decision-making remains with the leader.

High supportive/low directive leader behaviour (S3)

This is referred to as the supportive style of leadership. The focus of control for day-to-day

decision-making and problem-solving shifts from the leader to members of the group. The

leader’s role is to provide recognition and to listen actively and facilitate problem-solving

and decision-making on the part of the staff. This is appropriate where staff have the ability

and knowledge to do the task.

Low supportive/low directive leader behaviour (S4)

This is referred to as the delegating style of leadership. The leader discusses the problems

with members of the group until a joint agreement is achieved on the problem and ways to

resolve it. Thereafter, the decision-making process is delegated totally. The group then has

significant control on deciding how tasks are to be accomplished.

These four basic leadership styles are therefore characterized by varying degrees of directive

and supportive behaviour. There is no “best leadership style”. Successful leaders are able to

adapt their styles to fit the requirements of the team and the situation. However they may be

using one style more often than others. This is called their dominant style. The style used the most

after the dominant style, is called the back-up style.

Some leaders may not have a Dominant and Back-up styles. This by itself is not important and

does not have an impact on the success of the leader. What is important is that the leader should

have:

• Effectiveness and

• Flexibility

Effectiveness is the ability to assess the circumstances and situation, and choose the appropriate

style – diagnostic ability.

Flexibility is the ease with which a leader is able to change and use the appropriate style –

practical ability.

Now do Exercise 3


STOP


Exercise 3

Individual written exercise: Identify your

leadership style, effectiveness and flexibility

In this exercise, you will do Part 3 of the Leadership Profile Indicator (LPI) instrument you started

using in Exercise 2, to identify your own leadership style, effectiveness and flexibility. Follow the

instructions below:

(1) Refer to the LPI Score Sheet for Exercise 2 on page 12. Transfer the total scores you

obtained in columns.1, 2, 3, and 4 from Part 2 of the LPI Score Sheet to the table below.

(2) The columns represent leadership styles S1, S2, S3 and S4 respectively. The column

with the maximum score is your dominant style. The second highest score represents

your backup style, which emerges under emergency/pressure of time etc. and is as

important as your dominant style.

(3) Now assess your flexibility. If your score is below 2 (0 or 1) in any one style, your

flexibility to use that style is low (L), which means that you may find it difficult to use that

style when required. If your score is 2 or above, your flexibility to use that style is high

(H), which means that you can use this style with ease. Write your flexibility score in the

table below:

(4) Now refer back to the third part of the LPI Score Sheet. Look at your index of leadership

effectiveness, calculated in Part Three of the LPI Score Sheet.

Leadership effectiveness is the ability to diagnose a situation and choose the appropriate

leadership style. You will see that your leadership effectiveness score lies within a range

of range 0 to 100. The following cut-off points are used to indicate the various levels of

leadership effectiveness.

Second part ofscoring sheet

S1High DirectiveLow Supportive

S2High SupportiveLow Directive

S3High SupportiveLow Directive

S4Low Directive

Low Supportive

Your score

Flexibility score


Very low below 46

Low 46 - 55

Normal/Average 56 - 65

High 66 - 75

Very high above 75

What is your level of leadership effectiveness?………………………………………………..



Development level of teams

The decision regarding which style to use when could be influenced by various factors such as

timeframes, job and task demands, working environment, teamwork, and the skills and

expectations of team members. The amount of direction or support that a leader will provide

depends on the development level of the team for a specific task, function or objective that the

leader is attempting to accomplish. Since the developmental level is task-specific, it is possible to

assess the team according to the three key elements - competence, commitment and teamwork,

for a specific task and adopt an appropriate leadership style.

In situational leadership, the development level of a team is defined by three elements:

competence of the people, their commitment or motivation and their ability to work in a team

to accomplish a particular task without supervision.

Competence is a combination of knowledge and skills that can be gained from education,

training, and/or experience.

Commitment is a combination of confidence and motivation. Confidence is a measure of a

person’s self-assuredness - a feeling of being able to do a task well without much supervision,

while motivation will influence a person’s interest and enthusiasm in doing it.

Teamwork is reflected in the level of unity, ability to confront problems and collaboration

existing within the group.

Situational leadership focuses on the appropriateness or effectiveness of leadership styles

according to the task-relevant development level of the team (refer back to Table 2) and identifies

four development levels: low (D1), low-to-moderate (D2), moderate-to-high (D3), and high (D4).

Each of these development levels represents a different combination of competence, commitment

and teamwork as illustrated in Table 3.

5

D4

• High Competence• High Commitment• High Teamwork

D3

• Any Two ElementsHigh

• One Element Low

D2

• Any two Elementslow

• One Element High

D1

• Low Competence• Low Commitment• Low Teamwork

Developed Developing Underdeveloped

Table 3: Development levels of the team

TB control programme managers must be able to assess the developmental level of their

team and select a style appropriate to the situation. Since different styles may be needed depending

upon the situation, it is also important to have the flexibility to change and use various leadership

styles with ease and confidence.


Table 4 below lists examples of criteria that can be used when assessing the three elements

of the development level of your team. This list is not exclusive.

Competence

Qualifications

Knowledge

Proven skills

Training

Experience

Accuracy, speed

Proven performance

Proper placement

Need minimal support

Need minimal supervision

Commitment

Hardworking

Enthusiasm

Motivation

Punctuality

Loyalty

Confidence, leading toaccepting challenging goals

Job satisfaction

Go beyond what is expected

Willing to overcomedifficulties

Turns in quality work always

Teamwork

Respect each other

Respect each other’s roles

Respect competence

Good interaction

Share responsibilities andduties

Ready to share resources

Sense of ownership /belonging

Transparency

Ability to resolve conflicts

Feel free to seek help fromothers

Table 4: List of sample criteria

Now do Exercise 4


STOP


Exercise 4

Individual written exercise followed by group

discussion: Assess the development level of your team

The purpose of this exercise is to assess the development level of your team. Follow the instructions

below. There will be a group discussion when all participants have finished the exercise.

(1) Think about your team members. Decide on a task that you would like the team to

accomplish. First decide on the objective criteria that you may use to assess your team’s

development level to accomplish this particular task. Refer to Table 4. List the criteria

below.

(2) Based on these criteria, rate your team on each criterion that you have listed. For a high

level of quality, put a “+” sign and for low quality put a “–” sign.

(3) Based on your assessment of the individual criterion, determine the overall assessment

for each element. There is no standardized way to do this. However to receive a “high

level on any of the elements, more than half of the criteria that you have used should

have been assessed as high.

Your criteriaYour assessment

High/lowElement

Competence

Commitment

Teamwork


(4) Based on your assessment, determine the development level of your team for the specific

task you have chosen for this exercise. Refer to the criteria below.

Overall assessment(high/low)

D4

• High Competence

• High Commitment

• High Teamwork

D3

• Any Two ElementsHigh

• One Element Low

D2

• Any two Elementslow

• One Element High

D1

• Low Competence

• Low Commitment

• Low Teamwork

Developed Developing Underdeveloped

Remember the development level of your team is specific to the task you have chosen to

assess the team on.


Element

Competence

Commitment

Teamwork


Matching leadership styles to

the team’s development level

A leader may adopt a directive, coaching, supportive or delegating leadership style depending

on the development level of the team for any specific task.

The directive style of leadership (S1) is for the lowest development level (D1). Teams who

are low on competence, commitment and teamwork, (D1) need detailed guidance. In such a

situation, the directing style (SI) has the highest likelihood of being effective as it provides clear,

specific direction and close supervision. This style is called directing because it is characterized by

the leader defining roles and telling people what, how, when and where to do various tasks.

Direct when competence, commitment and teamwork are low.

For example: If a leader works with a team whose competence for a task is low, and whose

members do not take responsibility and do not function as a cohesive team, the most appropriate

style of leadership would be the directive style. Here the leader sets the task in detail, assigns

work to each member, monitors the work being done, corrects the mistakes made, and meets the

team regularly to review the progress of work.

The coaching style of leadership (S2) is for a low to moderate development level (D2).

Teams who have some competence, commitment or teamwork (D2) need both direction and

support. For teams at this developmental level, the coaching style, (S2) is most appropriate as it

both directs and supports people. This style encourages two-way communication, helps build

confidence and motivation on the part of the follower while the leader keeps responsibility for

and control over decision-making.

Coach when one element is high (any element) and two are low.

For example: If the leader finds that one of the elements is present (competence, commitment

or teamwork), the leader gives credit to the team people for that aspect, encourages them, and

continues to guide them in other aspects. This combination of guidance and encouragement in a

leadership style is called the coaching style.

The supportive style of leadership (S3) is for a moderate to high development level (D3).

Teams at this development level are high on two elements from among competence, commitment

and teamwork, but low on one. This may result in lack of confidence. In such a case, the leader

needs to open up a two-way communication, actively listening and supporting staff efforts. This

style is called supporting, because the leader and the follower participate equally in decision-

making, with the key roles of the leader being listening and facilitating.

Support when two elements are high and one is low.

For example: If the leader finds that staff are strong in two of the three elements, but lack

one, the appropriate style would be to encourage them to take responsibility and provide the

needed support. This is called the supporting style of leadership.

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The delegating style of leadership (S4) is for teams at a high development level (D4) for aparticular task. Teams at this development level are competent, motivated and able to takeresponsibility and work well as a team (D4). As little direction and support is needed in thissituation, a leader can take a low profile delegating style, (S4), with teams at this developmentlevel. Even though the leader may still identify the problem, the responsibility for carrying outplans is given to these experienced members of the team. They are permitted to “run the show”and decide on how, when and where the task is to be accomplished.

For example, if staff are highly competent, can take responsibility and are capable offunctioning as an effective team (working together and solving problems), the most appropriateleadership style for the leader would be the delegating style. Staff can be allowed to work ontheir own, so that the leader may perform more strategic functions (resource mobilization,networking with other organizations, and expanding work, etc).

Delegate when high on all elements.

However it is important to remember that teams are not “fully developed” or“underdeveloped”. People may be developed for one task, but not developed for another.Development level is a task-specific concept and not person- specific.

Inability or failure to take note of the level of competence, commitment and teamwork in theteam with regard to a task could lead to adopting an inappropriate and ineffective style. At times aleader may not recognize the qualities staff have, and so does not build on them. This is known as“discounting”. At other times it is possible that a leader realizes the deficit or lack of competence,commitment and teamwork in the team. “Neglecting” amounts to failure to pay attention to the

need for building competence, commitment and teamwork in specific areas or work.

6.1 Discounting and neglecting the team’s development level

A leader who does not recognize the strengths of the team (high elements), discounts their

capacity.

Such a leader may:

choose a style that is inappropriate or ineffective.

make the team members feel that their worth, importance and qualities are beingoverlooked; they may tend to loose interest after some time.

not use the opportunity to build on the team’s strengths and thus take them forward.

A leader who does not recognize the weaknesses of the team (low elements), neglects theirinabilities.

Such a leader may:

choose a style that is inappropriate or ineffective.

make the team feel insecure, neglected, confused and incompetent.

lose the opportunity to train and motivate the team and thus take them forward.

Now do Exercise 5


STOP


Exercise 5

Individual written exercise: Analyse

areas you discount and neglect

The purpose of this exercise is to analyse areas you might discount and neglect in your leadership

based on the situations in exercise 2. Follow the instructions below.

Refer to Part 4 of the LPI Score Sheet, which gives your scores on three elements of

development (competence, motivation and teamwork), and shows the elements you tend to

overlook and neglect in your team. Transfer these scores here.

A score of 2 or less means you do not discount or neglect these areas. A score above 2 is a

matter for concern, as this indicates aspects which you either neglect or discount.

To better understand the areas you discount or neglect, re-read the specific situations and

your responses in exercise 2. You will notice that for each situation, there is one of four possible

answers that would allow you to avoid discounting or neglecting competencies, commitment or

teamwork.


ScoreDiscounting

Competence

Commitment

Teamwork

Neglecting

Competence

Commitment

Teamwork


Raise your team’s development level

As the developmental level is task-specific and not person-specific, competence, commitment

and teamwork can be developed by appropriate inputs. As a leader of the team, it is your

responsibility to help raise your teams’ development level. Identifying the developmental level of

the team and choosing the appropriate leadership style will enable you to provide your team

members with what they lack in a given situation. The following are suggestions of what you may

do to develop or strengthen your team’s competence, commitment or teamwork.

Building Competency

• Provide information relevant to roles and tasks.

• Build skills to perform the tasks effectively.

• Sustain and upgrade competencies through long-term training strategies.

Building Commitment – helping individuals realize the potential of their development

• Help individual members to set realistic and challenging goals.

• Support them to achieve this.

• Recognize their achievements through two-way feedback and rewards.

• Give them a sense of belonging.

• Motivate them to take ownership of the programme.

Team building

• Make teams responsible for various tasks.

• Allocate resources to them.

• Recognize the importance of teamwork through team rewards.

• Assign a high value to team-work in performance appraisal systems.

• Design ways to reduce conflicts and increase collaboration.

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Enhance your leadership

The main function of a leader is to develop the team and its members. You can do this by usingyour style to take the team to the next development level. If your team is at D-1 level, use thedirective style, but help the team to move to D-2 level — then coach them; move them to D-3level and support them. Finally, help them to reach D-4 level, then delegate and concentrateyour attention on other strategic functions, like developing vision, setting priorities for tasks,generating resources, building linkages with important groups, networking etc.

Revisit your scores on the LPI instrument.

If your score is 2 or less in any style, then your flexibility on that style score is 0, which meansthat you, as a programme manager, may find it difficult to use that particular style(s) when required.Here are some suggestions for your consideration:

• Become aware of your lack of flexibility in specific styles.

• Work in collaboration with your colleagues who have more flexibility in that style. Askthem to work with you to manage the situation and learn from them.

• Make special efforts to use that style and you may find that after a while your flexibilityin that style increases.

If your score for effectiveness is lower than 46, then you need to be more attentive inunderstanding situations. Increase your ability to diagnose the situation, and then see which stylewill help you manage the situation more effectively.

• Assess carefully whether most members of your team know the area of their assignmentand how well they know what is to be done.

• Do they have relevant skills and knowledge?

• Are they willing to take responsibility?

• Assess their level of synergy - do they work as a cohesive team, confronting and solvingproblems, and supporting each other?

In the fourth part of the scoring sheet, you identified strengths of your team that you mayoverlook or weak areas that you neglect (competence, commitment or teamwork). These are the

areas you will need to concentrate more on.

Leadership is a dynamic process of making people more effective and increasing

their competence to achieve individual and organizational goals.

8

Now do Exercise 6


STOP


Exercise 6

Written exercise: Use effective leadership

styles to improve your team

In this exercise, you will practise identifying the most appropriate leadership style for a given

situation.

Think of your own team in your work situation. Based on the development level of your

team(s), identify the most appropriate leadership style to be used for each one. Indicate what you

will do to make each team more competent and effective in reaching programme goals upon

your return to work.



Summary of important points

• A TB Control Manager needs to have both managerial and leadership skills.

• There are certain qualities that a leader must have or develop, in order to help the teamgrow and achieve the shared vision and goals of the programme.

• A leader’s behaviour is task-oriented (directive) as well as people-oriented (supportive).

• A combination of high and low degrees of the two types of behaviour results in the fourleadership styles.

• A team’s development level depends on how high or low it is with regard to the threeelements of competence, commitment and teamwork. The four development levels ofa team are derived from this.

• Each leadership style is effective for a corresponding development level of a team.

• To be effective, the leader should be able to assess the situation, the development levelof the team and choose an appropriate style. For this, the leader needs to be aware ofthe elements (competence, commitment and teamwork) that might be discounted orneglected, and work on assessing the teams better.

• The leader also needs to be flexible in the four styles in order to use them as the situationdemands, even if he/she has dominant and back-up styles. The leader needs to work onthe styles where he/she has low flexibility.

• A good leader also needs to raise the development level of his/her team.

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